Archive for October, 2014

Happy All Hallows Day and Eve all! Enjoy costumes, food and whatever else one does on this lovely holiday!

Tomorrow is the beginning of November with All Saints Day. November is the ninth month of the Roman calendar, and -in the traditional Irish calendar- the start of Winter (and it is even making the attempt to get a little cold here). Tomorrow also sees the beginning of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which I will be participating in, as usual, and perhaps I will even complete it this time.

In light of that, and seeing no obvious theme to November I will just write about whatever inspires me. I will keep up with the Tuesday magic items and whatever else I can fit. However, if you have any requests, anything you would like to see or any theme you would like me to expand upon, please let me know and I will try to fit it in.

July through October, 2014, saw the following posts here on the design journal:

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It has been sometime since my last update (unless you count PinkCat‘s) but Shadowrun has been continuing, the shared campaign has slowed considerably, with two GMs mostly dropping out of running, but the NorCal branch is still going on (expect another episode of Running in the Shade soon).

Turnout was been low for the last game, only three players, which was interesting as I have been used to six player plus groups but nice as I can actually pay attention to everyone and there is very little confusion. Unfortunately, we are losing one of our newer (but dedicated) players who is following his wife to New England. We will miss you player of “Bob”!

So, the players have interfered with a concert stage (partly by highjacking it for an unofficial show, which also signaled the retirement from Shadowrunning of Moonshadow), stolen items from a yakuza safehouse, and recovered a hidden item from a deconstruction site. Only one of which is reflected in the latest issue of the Seattle Scream (#46).

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“Stand aside for your betters,” commanded the guard in his colorful uniform. “You move!” He prodded a young woman with a cane who was moving with insufficient haste.

“Why?” she asked, hobbling aside.

“Because your ruler, the Tsar of Nyris, should not be delayed by rabble such as you,” sniffed the guard.

The woman muttered something and stepped away. The mood of the other people did not seem improved by the actions of the guard. A few moments later as the Tzar arrived, the woman stepped forward, her cane becoming a flaming sword. “Now it is time for tyranny to end and freedom to rise!” she called as the rabble surged to attack.

Sword of Libertas

This sword is a remarkably plain weapon, notable only for the word freedom etched on one side of the blade and liberty on the other. It also has the ability to change into a simple rod which can be used as a walking stick or otherwise easily concealed.

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Shortly after their last task, recovering an amber box our three active venturers (Mirror, the unstable wizard, Tack, the pirate, and Thea, the adventurous druid, with her lioness Pho) are summoned before the Shaper. The Shaper explains that the expansion of the Complex has encountered a . . . space which her other agents are ill-suited to explore.

A rift had opened in the side of the Complex, inside was a cave the floor thick with dust and a body. Tack poked at it and it collapsed, releasing a cloud of foul gas. They fled back into the Complex, led by Pho, and waited for the noxious fumes to disperse. Having been provided with beetle based light sources, they again ventured in.

Exploration, encounters with undead husks, carnivorous snails, ancient idols, things from before history and other strangeness follow. While occasionally pushed hard, they managed to avoid being killed or consumed by anything and they survived, gaining information and odd magic items out of it all.

Notes: This adventure used the Horrid Caves from The Manor, Issue 7, hastily converted to Pathfinder as its basis for a nice semi-creepy adventure.

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*the greatest musical show that hasn’t happened yet, name subject to revision (it is noted as such on all their posters).

Scenic Grossdunkleweg

So, our heroes(?), well, the band is en route to Vine for the Dominion Court Music Tournament, traveling by coach overs the mountains. The band, with all of its hangers on, is so large that they have to be split between two coaches. The second coach hits a rock and damages its rear wheel so they have to unload the passengers and husband the coach to the nearest town, Grossdunkleweg, luckily only a few miles away for repairs, a sleepy little mining town. The first coach, having Imperial post to deliver, continues on. Thus do Amethyst, Jet and Ren, along with the three dancers, embark on a new adventure.

The first thing that greets them in the town is the spire of the Church of the Undying Sun, which makes Jet unhappy as he has had . . . issues with Sun Sects in the past. The coach crew, Klaus and Ahmed, take the damaged wheel to the town’s blacksmith, Hilda, an ex-soldier. Ren decides to stay and help and learn a bit about blacksmithing, which ends up mostly being told what a blacksmith does and working the bellows. Amethyst, Jet and the dancer head to the inn, the Black Dog, for drink and food. There they are served weisswurst, dark beer and rye bread while they try to convince the innkeeper, Hannah, to employ them as entertainers. This meet with less enthusiasm than they think they deserve, so they head out to find the mayor, Ren joining them.

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Halloween Horrors provides six supernatural foes suitable for modern superhero games, though they could easily be adjusted to find modern horror games as well. A good source of inspiration for horror-based adventures, nothing too deep here but the horrors are easy to use and should spark an adventure when you need one.